Just Me And My Frog

I have meant to post about the "frog" since picking up the book a few weeks ago. Kimber's post, The Tale of Two Frogs, explained a bit about it and she told us what her frogs are. John also wrote about his frog and asked everyone to tell about their frog. So here is my frog story.

While waiting in Kinkos, the silly title of the book, "Eat That Frog," by Brian Tracy caught my eye. The author started out by saying that there never will be enough time to do all the things we have to do. He says, "get over the notion that you somehow can get it all done...you can't." My reaction..."OH CRAP! Really? That can't be true...BUT!?!"

Enter the frog. Based on a quote by Mark Twain..."if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst things that is going to happen to you all day long. And if you have too eat a frog, you shouldn't look at it for too long."

So, your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate. Interestingly enough, it is typically also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life at that moment.

This will sound familiar but here goes...

FROG#1
Exercise, exercise, exercise. Do I really have to say anything else here? Probably not, but I will anyway. It isn't just wanting to change the way my body looks, but also knowing all the bla bla bla about how it will make you feel better and have more energy, etc., etc., etc. Don't mind my sarcasm...it is all pointed right at myself.

FROG#2
Work. The frog can be just getting any of the work done. But a lot of my job is not time sensitive so it not so important when I get it done. I go through spurts of productivity and those things get done when they get done. So the real frog is always that one thing that I really need to accomplish which always seems to coincide with the one thing that I really don't want to do. Last week it was the quarterly taxes. This week it is the insurance audit that I have to prepare for.

I have been in the habit of putting off those big tasks to clear my desks of the simpler, easier tasks thinking, "I can just get this out of the way really quick." The book brought that to my attention but might have faded if I hadn't told Kimber about it. It quickly became a way for us to identify our frogs and tackle them head on.

So, I echo John in saying..."What is your frog?"
And add my own question..."How do you eat it?"

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